Valerie Boyd
Encyclopedia
Valerie Boyd is a widely published journalist, author, and cultural critic, best known for the critically acclaimed biography, Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston
.
’s Medill School of Journalism
in 1985 and her MFA in creative nonfiction
from Goucher College
in 1999.
Currently, Boyd is an Associate Professor and the Charlayne Hunter-Gault
Distinguished Writer-in-Residence at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia
, where she teaches narrative nonfiction writing, as well as arts and literary journalism. She has also taught creative nonfiction in the graduate writing program at Antioch University in Los Angeles. She lives in Atlanta.
, The Oxford American
, Book, Essence
, The Washington Post
, The Los Angeles Times, Creative Nonfiction, African American Review
and other publications.
Boyd founded EightRock, a cutting-edge journal of black arts and culture, in 1990. In 1992, she co-founded HealthQuest, the first nationally distributed magazine focusing on African-American health, and served as its editor in chief. Boyd is a founding officer of the Alice Walker Literary Society, and currently serves on the board as secretary. Boyd is a former elected board member for the National Book Critics Circle
.
Published in 2003, Boyd’s Wrapped in Rainbows was the first biography of author and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston in 25 years. Boyd said she felt a strong connection to the author since first reading Hurston’s novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God
,” during her freshman year at Northwestern University. She describes her experience as feeling called to the challenge of writing Wrapped in Rainbows when she heard Hurston’s first biographer, Robert Hemenway
, a white male, speak at the 1994 Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities in Eatonville, Florida
. Hemenway suggested it was time for a new biography and this time it needed to be written by a black woman. Written in the style of literary journalism, the book weaves together scene, dialogue, and powerful prose, bringing the remarkable spirit of Hurston to life, while maintaining its accessibility to everyday readers. This is markedly different from the Hemenway biography, which maintains a more academic tone.
The Washington Post
declared Wrapped in Rainbows “the definitive Hurston biography for many years to come.” Pulitzer Prize
-winning author Alice Walker
has said of Boyd’s work, “This daughter, Valerie Boyd, has written a biography of Zora Neale Hurston that will be the standard for years to come. Offering vivid splashes of Zora’s colorful humor, daring individualism and refreshing insouciance, Boyd has done justice to a dauntless spirit and heroic life.”
Boyd received the Georgia Author of the Year Award in nonfiction as well as an American Library Association Notable Book citation for her work on Wrapped in Rainbows. The Georgia Center for the Book named it one of the “25 Books That All Georgians Should Read,” and the Southern Book Critics Circle honored it with the 2003 Southern Book Award for best nonfiction of the year.
Boyd travels the United States giving speeches and lectures on the life and legacy of Zora Neale Hurston as a part of the Big Read, a program sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts
designed to re-establish reading for pleasure as a popular American pastime.
She is currently finishing up her second book, Spirits in the Dark: The Untold Story of Black Women in Hollywood, which will be published by Knopf. The book will trace the history of African-American women in film and television throughout the 20th century.
Zora Neale Hurston
Zora Neale Hurston was an American folklorist, anthropologist, and author during the time of the Harlem Renaissance...
.
Biography
Boyd was born on December 11, 1963, in Atlanta. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from Northwestern UniversityNorthwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
’s Medill School of Journalism
Medill School of Journalism
The Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications is a constituent school of Northwestern University which offers both undergraduate and graduate programs. It has consistently been one of the top-ranked schools in Journalism in the United States...
in 1985 and her MFA in creative nonfiction
Creative nonfiction
Creative nonfiction is a genre of writing that uses literary styles and techniques to create factually accurate narratives. Creative nonfiction contrasts with other nonfiction, such as technical writing or journalism, which is also rooted in accurate fact, but is not primarily written in service...
from Goucher College
Goucher College
Goucher College is a private, co-educational, liberal arts college located in the northern Baltimore suburb of Towson in unincorporated Baltimore County, Maryland, on a 287 acre campus. The school has approximately 1,475 undergraduate students studying in 31 majors and six interdisciplinary...
in 1999.
Currently, Boyd is an Associate Professor and the Charlayne Hunter-Gault
Charlayne Hunter-Gault
Charlayne Hunter-Gault is an American journalist and former foreign correspondent for National Public Radio, and the Public Broadcasting Service....
Distinguished Writer-in-Residence at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
, where she teaches narrative nonfiction writing, as well as arts and literary journalism. She has also taught creative nonfiction in the graduate writing program at Antioch University in Los Angeles. She lives in Atlanta.
Career
An accomplished journalist, Boyd enjoyed a lengthy career at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She began as a copy editor in 1985, worked over the years as a reporter, book critic and line editor, and became Arts Editor in 2001, a position she held until leaving the newspaper in 2004. Her articles, essays and reviews also appear in The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, Ms., PastePaste (magazine)
Paste is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine published in the United States by Wolfgang's Vault. Its tagline is "Signs of Life in Music, Film and Culture."-History:...
, The Oxford American
Oxford American
The Oxford American is an American quarterly literary magazine "dedicated to featuring the very best in Southern writing while documenting the complexity and vitality of the American South."-First publication:...
, Book, Essence
Essence (magazine)
Essence is a monthly magazine for African-American women between the ages of 18 and 49. The magazine covers fashion, lifestyle and beauty with an intimate girlfriend-to-girlfriend tone.-History:...
, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, The Los Angeles Times, Creative Nonfiction, African American Review
African American Review
The African American Review is a quarterly academic journal and the official publication of the Division on Black American Literature and Culture of the Modern Language Association. The journal covers African-American literature and culture, including theatre, film, the visual arts, interviews,...
and other publications.
Boyd founded EightRock, a cutting-edge journal of black arts and culture, in 1990. In 1992, she co-founded HealthQuest, the first nationally distributed magazine focusing on African-American health, and served as its editor in chief. Boyd is a founding officer of the Alice Walker Literary Society, and currently serves on the board as secretary. Boyd is a former elected board member for the National Book Critics Circle
National Book Critics Circle
The National Book Critics Circle is an American tax-exempt organization for active book reviewers. Its flagship is the National Book Critics Circle Award....
.
Published in 2003, Boyd’s Wrapped in Rainbows was the first biography of author and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston in 25 years. Boyd said she felt a strong connection to the author since first reading Hurston’s novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Their Eyes Were Watching God is a 1937 novel and the best-known work by African American writer Zora Neale Hurston. Set in central and southern Florida in the early 20th century, the novel garnered attention and controversy at the time of its publication, and has come to be regarded as a seminal...
,” during her freshman year at Northwestern University. She describes her experience as feeling called to the challenge of writing Wrapped in Rainbows when she heard Hurston’s first biographer, Robert Hemenway
Robert Hemenway
Robert Emery Hemenway was the 16th chancellor of the University of Kansas .-Biography:Hemenway arrived at KU in 1995 as the successor to interim chancellor, Del Shankel. Prior to his tenure at KU, Hemenway served as chancellor of the University of Kentucky from 1989–1995 and Dean of Arts and...
, a white male, speak at the 1994 Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities in Eatonville, Florida
Eatonville, Florida
Eatonville is a town in Orange County, Florida, six miles north of Orlando. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee metropolitan statistical area. The population was 2,432 at the 2000 census. As of 2006, the population recorded by the U.S...
. Hemenway suggested it was time for a new biography and this time it needed to be written by a black woman. Written in the style of literary journalism, the book weaves together scene, dialogue, and powerful prose, bringing the remarkable spirit of Hurston to life, while maintaining its accessibility to everyday readers. This is markedly different from the Hemenway biography, which maintains a more academic tone.
The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
declared Wrapped in Rainbows “the definitive Hurston biography for many years to come.” Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning author Alice Walker
Alice Walker
Alice Malsenior Walker is an American author, poet, and activist. She has written both fiction and essays about race and gender...
has said of Boyd’s work, “This daughter, Valerie Boyd, has written a biography of Zora Neale Hurston that will be the standard for years to come. Offering vivid splashes of Zora’s colorful humor, daring individualism and refreshing insouciance, Boyd has done justice to a dauntless spirit and heroic life.”
Boyd received the Georgia Author of the Year Award in nonfiction as well as an American Library Association Notable Book citation for her work on Wrapped in Rainbows. The Georgia Center for the Book named it one of the “25 Books That All Georgians Should Read,” and the Southern Book Critics Circle honored it with the 2003 Southern Book Award for best nonfiction of the year.
Boyd travels the United States giving speeches and lectures on the life and legacy of Zora Neale Hurston as a part of the Big Read, a program sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
designed to re-establish reading for pleasure as a popular American pastime.
She is currently finishing up her second book, Spirits in the Dark: The Untold Story of Black Women in Hollywood, which will be published by Knopf. The book will trace the history of African-American women in film and television throughout the 20th century.